Corcoran State Prison

Hunger-striking inmate dies in California

Rina Palta

Hunger strikers have been protesting conditions in the state's Security Housing Units, like this one at Pelican Bay State Prison.

By Nicole Jones

A spokesperson with California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has confirmed that an inmate on a hunger strike at Corcoran State Prison died on Feb. 2 after refusing food for four days.

Gomez began fasting to protest conditions in the Administration Segregation Unit at Corcoran. Over thirty inmates housed in the isolation unit at Corcoran had also been refusing food since January for the same reason. On Feb. 13, all inmates resumed eating, according to CDCR’s spokesperson Terry Thornton.

Correctional Healthcare Service spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid said nothing in the preliminary autopsy suggests starvation was the cause of death. Gomez was under medical care prior to hunger strike, suggesting he may have been in poor health which was further complicated by fasting.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Corcoran State Prison, Hunger strike

May 27, 2011 | 9:07 AM | By Rina Palta

Medical parole gets its first hearing

New law debutsParole board faces tough question Download

CDCR

Earlier this week, a new law debuted that’s supposed to save the state millions of dollars a year. The new law, passed last year, is called “medical parole,” and it allows inmates who are medically incapacitated to apply for release on parole. These inmates must have become incapacitated while in prison and the Parole Board must determine that their release would not threaten public safety.

Many of those eligible for consideration for medical parole have extensive and gruesome criminal histories. Steven Martinez, the first inmate considered, is no exception.

Earlier this week, I went down to Corcoran State Prison in the Central Valley to attend the first ever medical parole hearing in California and report on the tough decision faced by the Board of Parole Hearings: save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars or keep a man convicted of horrifying crimes behind prison walls at Corcoran’s hospital? As the new medical parole policy unfolds, this question will come up again and again. After the jump, a look at how the first hearing unfolded (audio above). And a note to readers/listeners, the crimes discussed in this piece are disturbing

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Corcoran State Prison, Mark Leno, Medical Parole

May 24, 2011 | 9:47 AM | By Rina Palta

First inmate eligible for medical parole denied

CDCR

[UPDATE 6:34 PM: Steve Martinez was denied medical parole by the state Board of Parole Hearings around 5.30 pm today. The board rejected his application based on public safety concerns given Martinez's history of violence towards women.]

Somewhat lost in the frenzy over the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday that California will have to relieve its prison overcrowding problem, is today’s debut of a new law aimed at reducing the prison’s $10-billion budget: medical parole. Medical parole is a practice used in some other states, but it came to California recently, in the form of a bill introduced by State Senator Mark Leno (Dem, San Francisco). The bill, aimed at “medically incapacitated inmates,” could take as many as 40 of the state’s most expensive inmates out of prison, saving California up to about $10 million a year. Today is the first scheduled medical parole hearing for an inmate: Steve Martinez, an inmate with a nasty criminal history, will be considered for release to the custody of his parents. SignOnSanDiego sums up Martinez’s history:

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